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One other thing - Primal Predators could lose out if they're not careful
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Hit: 1d10 + Wisdom modifier damage. If at least one of the attacks hits, you can shift 2 squares. Primal Predator: The number of squares you can shift equals your Dexterity modifier.
If a primal predator has a Dex of 13 or less this power is actually worse for him!
Cheers
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"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
On the whole, I think it looks very promising. Particularly in the implementation of WildShape (BTW, 3e PHB2 had a shifter variant of the druid who could shift every round into generic shapes, and it worked pretty well overall. I think this implementation owes a little to that)
I'm really pleased to see such a wide choice of at-wills. If only the PHB had 8 at-wills per class we would have seen less complaints and/or problems about cookie-cutter PCs.
I'm a bit disappointed in some of the details. I don't like to see all those beast attacks targeting reflex. If a wolf attacks you it attacks vs AC. If a druid wildshaped into a beast attacks you I think that should attack AC too. If worried about the impact of not having a 'proficiency bonus', then I would have much preferred the beast attacks to have a +2 bonus figured in to them. Neater and more appropriate to my mind.
I'm a bit disappointed to see the power creep inherent in things like Flame Seed which really ups the ante for at-will minion killing (it has the autokill benefit of cloud of daggers, but over an 8 (or 9) times bigger area). Wind Prison also looks a bit suspect - hit the low reflex minion with it and when he moves all the giants (or high reflex quicklings) get knocked prone regardless of their defences.
Back to the utilities, two things I really like: Skittering Sneak for tiny animal infiltration, and the Obscuring Mist sustain: minor with the opportunity to grow the area effect. I think that is great, and ought to be back-filled into some of the PHB powers (like cloudkill, which really needs a boost).
Cheers
Wind Prison would kill a minion, and thus the secondary knock prone effect would never take place.
But if for some reason there was a low level non-minion in the middle of group of Giants, you could pull it off.
But then, Giants tend to have cruddy Reflexes anyway so you could just hit one and be done with it.
I don't think Flame Seed is much better than Cloud of Daggers either, but it might be. Its area only gets greater if you use it on a large or larger creature, and then it only kills minions better if they're all adjacent to that creature. Plus it has less damage potential for using as an attack on non-minions. SO maybe its a wee bit better, but not much.
__________________ "Well, no, I wasn't actually one of the original members of Pink Floyd." - Giles
Also note that Fire Seed requires you to hit; Cloud of Daggers does not. I thought Druid seemed strong at first glance, but I think its actually pretty good having looked over it a few times.
__________________ “When one awakes, and rolls from his pallet, and strides across the cold rushes to put flame to lantern. When the world is asleep around him. When the whippoorwill sings and crickets speak. When one is alone, in silence, with nothing but a book. That, my son, is glory. That is all the glory a man ever needs, and more besides.” - Sage Poridel Poriden, Sins of Our Fathers
Are you running SoW and are interested in getting some ideas on the overarching plot?
Looking for better ways to tie the disparate modules together?
Come visit my thread on doing exactly that! Also, visit the wiki it inspired! Player's stay out!
But encounter = scene and there is nothing in the power that limit the length otherwise.
Player's Handbook, page 58: "If you use a power outside combat, it lasts for 5 minutes unless otherwise noted." By default, Skittering Sneak lasts for at most 5 minutes per day.
If a primal predator has a Dex of 13 or less this power is actually worse for him!
This isn't the only power that works that way, nor the only class. There seems to be a default assumption that your secondary stat will be at least a +2.
If you build your characters with the basic array (16/14/13/12/11/10), this default assumption is always true.
Cool stuff, the at wills seem really quite good IMO.
My players eladrin Wiz would change to this if they did level 7! We are especially up to the idea of an elf primal predator, speed 8 and once per day 12! (assuming Wis/Dex 16 +2 each and the 2nd level Util Fleet Pursuit)
Am I the only one who saw the Preview of the druid and immediately thought of making a warforged/druid who transforms into mechanical beasts and is basically a transformer?
Am I the only one who saw the Preview of the druid and immediately thought of making a warforged/druid who transforms into mechanical beasts and is basically a transformer?
Yeah, it was probably was just me.
LOL most definitely only you...although I am 100% sure that my 3 and 4 yr old boys will be right with you!
Am I the only one who saw the Preview of the druid and immediately thought of making a warforged/druid who transforms into mechanical beasts and is basically a transformer?
Yeah, it was probably was just me.
I saw the same idea on RPG.net at least once, so I doubt it.
__________________ "I'd like to shake the hand of the genius who invented that - just the hand, after it's been cut off from the now screaming man."
Oh, and what the heck is an aftereffect? New keyword there?
Only if you consider the PHB "new."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solodan
Seems more of a teaser than a playtest. Not much we can break with only level 1 and 2 abilitities.
Did they say it was supposed to be playtest stuff? I don't see that in the article or the dragon ToC. But I can't find the release calendar, so maybe they said it there.
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Originally Posted by DracoSuave
Call of the Beast + Bravura Warlord = Bravura can has no downside kthx.
There's still a down side. Instead of "someone gets CA" it's "the druid's action is restricted to using one of his At Wills."
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Human Target
I don't think Flame Seed is much better than Cloud of Daggers either, but it might be. Its area only gets greater if you use it on a large or larger creature
Fire Seed hits all adjacent squares and Cloud of Daggers hits a single square, so it's area is always bigger by at least eight to one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starbuck_II
What happens if you have a negative dex mod? Do you go shift backwards
It looks very cool. It doesn't seem to have any summon spells at these levels, but a lot of wildshape goodies.
Also, it seems to be a primary controller but with secondary class roles. Strange, but fair enough i guess.
Can someone compare it to the druid-clone in the advanced players guide?
I'll hit some of the basics here:
APG's "Nature Priest" is Divine instead of Primal, and emphasises CHA more than DEX. Both classes use WIS and CON.
Nature Priest gets Light Shield Proficiency, WotC Druid does not.
Both classes get Simple Melee weapons; WotC Druid also gets Simple Ranged, while Nature Priest gets handaxe, longspear, and sling instead.
Both classes can use Staffs; Nature Priests can use Fetishes (treat them as magic Wands), WotC Druids can use Totems.
Nature Priest is less hardy: 10 + CON score HP, +4 HP/Level, 6 + CON mod. healing surges/day (rather than WotC Druid's 12, 5, 7).
Nature Priest Skills List has Religion instead of Arcana, Dungeoneering instead of Diplomacy; total of 7 Skills instead of WotC Druid's 9 Skills.
Rituals: Nature Priests get +CHA mod. to Nature checks on Nature Rituals; but it is not stated in the APG that they start play owning a Ritual Book.
Nature Priests have a choice among 5 At-Will Prayers: one each doing Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Poison, or Cold damage, all attacking FORT or REF.
Nature Priests may quickly run out of Minor Actions to sustain their powers: 2 of the 4 Level 1 Encounter Prayers are Sustain Minor, and 3 of the 4 Level 1 Daily Prayers are Sustain Minor, and 3 of the 4 Level 2 Utility Prayers are Sustain Minor, and 3 of the 4 Level 3 Encounter Prayers are Sustain Minor. . . .
Nature Priests do not Summon; they Conjure, instead. The conjured effects have no will of their own, and generally can neither make Opportunity Attacks, nor flank (because, with no OAs, they don't threaten on the enemies' turns), unless explicitly allowed to do so in a specific prayer.
For further confusion, there is also a "Druid" class in the book "Forgotten Heroes: Fang, Fist, and Song" from Goodman Games; it gets Animal Companions (choose one and stick with it); Wildshape 1 per Tier per Day, into different shapes for different purposes (or even "Porpoises"); and could learn to Summon Treant at Level 5 (lasts until the end of the encounter, so you don't actually have to sustain it). This FH Druid uses the Summoning keyword, but I haven't seen where that is defined yet; it is explicitly stated that the summoned Animal Companions can be destroyed with a single hit (modified by luck); but the FH Druid can simply summon a new Animal Companion next encounter. (Disposable Animal Companions: Affinity with Nature or Callous Exploitation?)
I don't think Flame Seed is much better than Cloud of Daggers either, but it might be. Its area only gets greater if you use it on a large or larger creature, and then it only kills minions better if they're all adjacent to that creature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caliber
Also note that Fire Seed requires you to hit; Cloud of Daggers does not. I thought Druid seemed strong at first glance, but I think its actually pretty good having looked over it a few times.
All you have to do is target something near minions (or even the ground near them if you are allowed, and I seem to remember discussion that clarified you can) - as long as you can get the minions into the effectively burst 1 around the target, they are all dead (unless someone shifts them out before their turn).
Cloud of Daggers only affects a single square, so it is about 1/9th as effective as a minion autokill/blockade which creates a zone affecting all the squares around the original target square.
That's why I consider it a better minion autokiller than cloud of daggers, Much bigger area.
Cheers
__________________ Plane Sailing
(Enworld Admin)
If you need to email me click here
"It makes as much sense as having Batman kill his parents and then go on to fight mutants from another dimension." - Rykion
Am I the only one who saw the Preview of the druid and immediately thought of making a warforged/druid who transforms into mechanical beasts and is basically a transformer?
Yeah, it was probably was just me.
There was someone on the gleemax forum that suggested the same thing. He named him Optimus Prime. The someone else changed it to Optimus Primal.
All you have to do is target something near minions (or even the ground near them if you are allowed, and I seem to remember discussion that clarified you can) - as long as you can get the minions into the effectively burst 1 around the target, they are all dead (unless someone shifts them out before their turn).
Cloud of Daggers only affects a single square, so it is about 1/9th as effective as a minion autokill/blockade which creates a zone affecting all the squares around the original target square.
That's why I consider it a better minion autokiller than cloud of daggers, Much bigger area.
All you have to do is target something near minions (or even the ground near them if you are allowed, and I seem to remember discussion that clarified you can) - as long as you can get the minions into the effectively burst 1 around the target, they are all dead (unless someone shifts them out before their turn).
Cloud of Daggers only affects a single square, so it is about 1/9th as effective as a minion autokill/blockade which creates a zone affecting all the squares around the original target square.
That's why I consider it a better minion autokiller than cloud of daggers, Much bigger area.
Cheers
So we've got:
Cloud of Daggers: 100% chance to kill 1 minion.
Scorching Burst: 50/50 chance to kill any given minion in a burst1 area.
Fire Seed: 50/50 chance to either kill all or none of the minions in a burst1 area.
__________________ Oni
"Each man, one way.
Each horse, one stance.
Each church, one buddha.
Each master to his own technique."
After rereading the article, I am getting a definate force of nature vibe from the druid, rather than a tree hugging hipp vibe. Me likey.
The level 3 powers are now up:
Battering Claws - nice for pushing oppenents across the battlefield. YOur friendly neighbourhood strikers and defenders will like this.
Call Lightning - gives the opponenets a choice, do you take the penalty to hit, or do you take the damage.
Predators Flurry - the images of the druid dashing across the battlefield flatening foes is awesome.
Tundra Wind - a bit of close support firepower.
The druid's non-Beast Form powers seem to have a large damned if you do, damned if you don't component.
Defenders and melee based strikers should enjoy working with a well played druid.
I don't think it makes sense to evaluate a power's strength purely as a minion killer. That's only one of the purposes of the powers in question. You will almost inevitably find yourself using these powers against non minions at least some of the time.
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